The Republican National Convention is designed to fire up the base to make sure its members vote, and to reassure wavering Republicans that they can vote for Trump without being racists but rather staunch Americans. And on both fronts, the first two days of this convention have delivered.
Do you remember when an emotional trump reached out to people with disabilities, earnestly promising to protect the programs that help to keep them safe? Neither do I! I remember real trump, spontaneously and cruelly mocking a reporter with disabilities in a nationally televised segment.
Do you remember a somber trump at one of the detention cages on the US/Mexico border, shaking his head and saying that treating immigrants that way was inhumane and unacceptable? Neither do I! I remember real trump preening for the cameras, gazing lovingly at a segment of his wall of everlasting shame and autographing it.
Do you remember a justice-centered trump, eyes laser-locked on the camera, promising us that the rule of law applies to everyone, no exceptions? Neither do I! I remember real trump commuting the sentence of his crony Roger Stone and calling out the military to bully and gas peaceful protesters on his path to a Bible-toting photo op.
Do you remember me, sitting in my favorite chair in front of the TV, sucking up every morsel of the RNC sh*t-show? Neither do I! Didn't happen. But thanks to those of you who have the courage and the constitution to watch and report.
There is a strategy, I suspect, in the failure to pass another relief bill, especially having to do with evictions. People without a fixed address cannot vote. Evictions are highest in cities--where there are generally more Dems than in the rural areas--and among communities of color. This is not just a cynical expansion of extreme misery for the unemployed and the working poor, it is designed to prevent people from voting.
I don't think I am paranoid in believing that every. single. thing. coming out of this White House and the GOP is part of the plan to suppress the vote.
I not only find it impossible to watch even 1 minute of the RNC; I found I had difficulty reading all the way to the end of todays Letter. My anger at the blatant disrespect for the Constitution, the Rule of Law, and political “norms” sickens me. I thank you Heather for putting all of this in print, but this was a tough one to get through.
Prayers for everyone suffering now with illness, financial insecurity, and of coarse those affected by the derecho, wildfires and impending major hurricane.
I could not watch much of the Convention -Tuesday Evening- but I have read and listened to several critiques. On top of the now typical insults to our intelligence I was appalled, once again, at her inappropriate choice of costume! Silly? Am I too sensitive? I'm in my 80s and have seen a few uniforms on the wrong people.
Olive Drab khaki jacket and skirt, shoulder lapels, metal buttons and leather belt...only missing medals! I don't want to imagine what she was thinking! Did anyone else notice it? Am I giving her too much credit? Was it just poor taste - AGAIN? Or was it a clue to her goal ...the great dictator's "mol"? They're plotting around the kitchen table? Beware that sweet and timid voice and the "empathy" of which she spoke. She SAW the children behind metal fences but I never heard that it upset her. Or that she did anything to stop it.
Thursday night - Trump in his matching uniform? Except that he'll award himself a chest full of medals to go with it! I wish this was all just a very bad dream. Maybe she was hinting that she's planning to do him in so that SHE can be our grand leader and wear the medals???
So now I understand why Trump so cuddled and praised the Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. He was looking for something in return – Kim’s secret propaganda formula!
It was on full display last night – embodied most dramatically/fanatically – by that darling duo of democracy, Don Jr. and Kim (Guilfoyle not Jong-un).
The campaign is on … except the two candidates are not running for the same office. DT is running for Supreme Leader – Biden, for President.
To me, the most disconcerting, indeed frightening, thing that the Republican convention has brought us thus far is the spectacle of Trump egging his supporters on to cheer for "Twelve more years." This goes beyond contempt for the implicit norms of Liberal Republican Democracy to contempt for Liberal Republican Democracy itself. What more does Trump, and the Republican party itself, need to do to convince the commentariat that this is Fascism, bold and open? And if you don't like the F-word, at least admit that it is its political equivalent?
A corollary to this is the fact that ordinary Republicans are perfectly okay with this. It's one thing to say, with Howard Zinn and many others, that elites tend toward corruption given their power. It is another to say that an entire population of voters are corrupted. For that's what this is: an unwillingness on the part of the average Republican voter to stop relying on their damaged guts and actually THINK about what they're signing on to. It's not just stupid, it's evil. No other word for it. Hannah Arendt might have been wrong about Eichmann himself, but her point in "Eichmann in Jerusalem" had wider application: you don't have to be a monster to perpetrate monstrous deeds. Some of history's greatest crimes were committed and facilitates by "nobodies". It is hard for me to have a shred of sympathy for anyone who continues to support Trump. He is not the only one responsible for this illiberal, un-democratic, anti-republican mess we are in.
As a philosophy nerd, I am squarely in the radically-social-democratic tradition of John Dewey and the pragmatists. But I am starting to take Plato and Aristotle more seriously, even as I disagree with them. They believed that the only solid, inevitable result of democratic regimes was that they were perfect breeding grounds for tyrants. I think they're wrong, but they do provide food for thought.
Thank you, Heather, for another great synopsis of a day and evening I didn't have the stomach to watch in real time.
Was talking to a friend last night who works for a small, local municipality. One of the main functions for the town is providing water and sewer services. The town was established in the early 1700s, I believe, by Quakers. During the textile heyday of North Carolina, there were several mills in town; gone now, of course. The population is largely white, blue-collar and elderly.
I don't know what percentage are on disability, but it's large.
Many of the residents are diabetic, obese and living paycheck to paycheck, if they're working. Due to Covid-19, like most places, the town had suspended cutting residents' water or charging late fees for non-payment. They did encourage residents to sign a pay agreement, once the moratorium on cut-offs ended, so that they could get caught-up on back payments. They gave people a month's notice, put it on their bills, on the town sign, on the web site, etc. The very last day to do a pay agreement, a couple of dozen bozos show up to fill one out. Yesterday was cut-off day - over 40 people (in a town of around 1500) had their water cut off. And two called, screaming that they'd been cut off and when told they hadn't filled out the agreement, said, "I didn't know anything about it." One came in to put $20 on her over $200 bill.
These are all Trump supporters. The town is full of MAGA hats and Confederate flags on bumpers of big, honking trucks. And some are wearing a pistol on their hip. (I am not anti-gun, BTW).
These are the people Trump is aiming at and who hang on his every word. If he were to end FICA and kill SS Disability, these are the same people who, deprived of even that small life support, would blame the Democrats. Guaranteed.
Not only can I not watch, but I find it difficult to even read about the circus that is the RNC. Makes me sick, angry, and very sad for this country. I will be taking my ballot for the primaries to a safe ballot box today. Wish I was taking the Nov ballot instead. We cannot be rid of this man, his family, and the troupe of sycophants soon enough!
Night 2 was colored by US flags, Marines, White House moulding and a speaking Melania. God was invoked so often, I thought I was in church! The whole show was colored by grievance, but the tone was « kinder » than Night 1. When you have a farmer and immigrant business woman thanking Supreme Leader Trump, the truth and Democrats have a bigger problem. The economy always rules elections, and Joe better counterpunch fast and well. At 69, I don’t want to lose the post office and social security! How about the brazen lies told by the former FL AG. That was the biggest lie moment for me. Thanks, HCR, for detailing the Hatch Act violations which color the entire show. A caution: we Dems still don’t know how to respond to Trump. We better learn fast. The election is coming up. No more Mr. Nice Guy. ❤️🤍💙
I will not watch the trump reality show otherwise known as the RNC, but wait for your clear eyed take on it. I cannot help but think the RNC is simply a display of the most baseless dog and pony show that panders to those that thrive on a buffet of disregard for facts and blantant abuse of power and laws. I would like to believe that this Administration has gone as low as it possible can but each day it seems to adjust that bar to a new lower level.
I have not watched any of the convention as I decided long ago watching and hearing the president was not helping my mental health. I follow the news in other venues. I try not to be fearful as that only saps my energy. However, I am retired and although have a small retirement pension and some investments, part of my retirement plan is Social Security. Dissolving this program would definitely put a strain on me although I can still work if I can find a job. I do know of people who depend entirely on the small amount they receive from Social Security. And many of these cannot see past the abortion issue and will vote against their own best interests. As aside, I do not for one minute believe the president is anti-abortion (I refuse to use pro-life to describe the anti-abortion movement) any more than I believe he adheres to the teachings of the Christian faith. I have to sign off as I need to send an email to my state's Democratic party about the campaign against McConnell. If ever we need to go a little lower, it is now.
Why-o-why was there not an effort to stop some of this stuff? What are the enforcement provisions of the Hatch Act? I am presuming that Nancy P et al wanted to hold their fire but this is a sickening desecration. The Dems just come off seeming powerless and naive - and it doesn't feel so hot to support them.
What is law? So many laws are being violated, like the Hatch Act, and yet nothing happens. We sit and watch the violations one after another. Unable to enforce anything.
I am alarmed, to say the least. The people who support Trump and his administration either stand to gain handsomely from his continued rule or they are stone cold stupid.
Trumplestilskin’s charade has gone on for far too long! When will someone just put a stop to his shenanigans? Enough already! How can he continue to break ethical laws without any consequences?
When will the GOP realize that pulling the payroll tax will be a disaster for our elderly and people with disabilities? All these rich members of Congress will never suffer the consequences of diminishing or eradicating these social services. They have it made with their guaranteed retirement funds.
I could not bring myself to watch a single minute of the RNC — and thank goodness for that as the nepotism being brought into play is beyond acceptable. All I can say after these theatrics is: please vote! Our lives, our futures, and those of our children and grandchildren depend on it!
Do you remember when an emotional trump reached out to people with disabilities, earnestly promising to protect the programs that help to keep them safe? Neither do I! I remember real trump, spontaneously and cruelly mocking a reporter with disabilities in a nationally televised segment.
Do you remember a somber trump at one of the detention cages on the US/Mexico border, shaking his head and saying that treating immigrants that way was inhumane and unacceptable? Neither do I! I remember real trump preening for the cameras, gazing lovingly at a segment of his wall of everlasting shame and autographing it.
Do you remember a justice-centered trump, eyes laser-locked on the camera, promising us that the rule of law applies to everyone, no exceptions? Neither do I! I remember real trump commuting the sentence of his crony Roger Stone and calling out the military to bully and gas peaceful protesters on his path to a Bible-toting photo op.
Do you remember me, sitting in my favorite chair in front of the TV, sucking up every morsel of the RNC sh*t-show? Neither do I! Didn't happen. But thanks to those of you who have the courage and the constitution to watch and report.
There is a strategy, I suspect, in the failure to pass another relief bill, especially having to do with evictions. People without a fixed address cannot vote. Evictions are highest in cities--where there are generally more Dems than in the rural areas--and among communities of color. This is not just a cynical expansion of extreme misery for the unemployed and the working poor, it is designed to prevent people from voting.
I don't think I am paranoid in believing that every. single. thing. coming out of this White House and the GOP is part of the plan to suppress the vote.
I not only find it impossible to watch even 1 minute of the RNC; I found I had difficulty reading all the way to the end of todays Letter. My anger at the blatant disrespect for the Constitution, the Rule of Law, and political “norms” sickens me. I thank you Heather for putting all of this in print, but this was a tough one to get through.
Prayers for everyone suffering now with illness, financial insecurity, and of coarse those affected by the derecho, wildfires and impending major hurricane.
Re: Melania
I could not watch much of the Convention -Tuesday Evening- but I have read and listened to several critiques. On top of the now typical insults to our intelligence I was appalled, once again, at her inappropriate choice of costume! Silly? Am I too sensitive? I'm in my 80s and have seen a few uniforms on the wrong people.
Olive Drab khaki jacket and skirt, shoulder lapels, metal buttons and leather belt...only missing medals! I don't want to imagine what she was thinking! Did anyone else notice it? Am I giving her too much credit? Was it just poor taste - AGAIN? Or was it a clue to her goal ...the great dictator's "mol"? They're plotting around the kitchen table? Beware that sweet and timid voice and the "empathy" of which she spoke. She SAW the children behind metal fences but I never heard that it upset her. Or that she did anything to stop it.
Thursday night - Trump in his matching uniform? Except that he'll award himself a chest full of medals to go with it! I wish this was all just a very bad dream. Maybe she was hinting that she's planning to do him in so that SHE can be our grand leader and wear the medals???
I'd laugh except that it is way beyond funny.
So now I understand why Trump so cuddled and praised the Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. He was looking for something in return – Kim’s secret propaganda formula!
It was on full display last night – embodied most dramatically/fanatically – by that darling duo of democracy, Don Jr. and Kim (Guilfoyle not Jong-un).
The campaign is on … except the two candidates are not running for the same office. DT is running for Supreme Leader – Biden, for President.
To me, the most disconcerting, indeed frightening, thing that the Republican convention has brought us thus far is the spectacle of Trump egging his supporters on to cheer for "Twelve more years." This goes beyond contempt for the implicit norms of Liberal Republican Democracy to contempt for Liberal Republican Democracy itself. What more does Trump, and the Republican party itself, need to do to convince the commentariat that this is Fascism, bold and open? And if you don't like the F-word, at least admit that it is its political equivalent?
A corollary to this is the fact that ordinary Republicans are perfectly okay with this. It's one thing to say, with Howard Zinn and many others, that elites tend toward corruption given their power. It is another to say that an entire population of voters are corrupted. For that's what this is: an unwillingness on the part of the average Republican voter to stop relying on their damaged guts and actually THINK about what they're signing on to. It's not just stupid, it's evil. No other word for it. Hannah Arendt might have been wrong about Eichmann himself, but her point in "Eichmann in Jerusalem" had wider application: you don't have to be a monster to perpetrate monstrous deeds. Some of history's greatest crimes were committed and facilitates by "nobodies". It is hard for me to have a shred of sympathy for anyone who continues to support Trump. He is not the only one responsible for this illiberal, un-democratic, anti-republican mess we are in.
As a philosophy nerd, I am squarely in the radically-social-democratic tradition of John Dewey and the pragmatists. But I am starting to take Plato and Aristotle more seriously, even as I disagree with them. They believed that the only solid, inevitable result of democratic regimes was that they were perfect breeding grounds for tyrants. I think they're wrong, but they do provide food for thought.
Thank you, Heather, for another great synopsis of a day and evening I didn't have the stomach to watch in real time.
Was talking to a friend last night who works for a small, local municipality. One of the main functions for the town is providing water and sewer services. The town was established in the early 1700s, I believe, by Quakers. During the textile heyday of North Carolina, there were several mills in town; gone now, of course. The population is largely white, blue-collar and elderly.
I don't know what percentage are on disability, but it's large.
Many of the residents are diabetic, obese and living paycheck to paycheck, if they're working. Due to Covid-19, like most places, the town had suspended cutting residents' water or charging late fees for non-payment. They did encourage residents to sign a pay agreement, once the moratorium on cut-offs ended, so that they could get caught-up on back payments. They gave people a month's notice, put it on their bills, on the town sign, on the web site, etc. The very last day to do a pay agreement, a couple of dozen bozos show up to fill one out. Yesterday was cut-off day - over 40 people (in a town of around 1500) had their water cut off. And two called, screaming that they'd been cut off and when told they hadn't filled out the agreement, said, "I didn't know anything about it." One came in to put $20 on her over $200 bill.
These are all Trump supporters. The town is full of MAGA hats and Confederate flags on bumpers of big, honking trucks. And some are wearing a pistol on their hip. (I am not anti-gun, BTW).
These are the people Trump is aiming at and who hang on his every word. If he were to end FICA and kill SS Disability, these are the same people who, deprived of even that small life support, would blame the Democrats. Guaranteed.
Not only can I not watch, but I find it difficult to even read about the circus that is the RNC. Makes me sick, angry, and very sad for this country. I will be taking my ballot for the primaries to a safe ballot box today. Wish I was taking the Nov ballot instead. We cannot be rid of this man, his family, and the troupe of sycophants soon enough!
Night 2 was colored by US flags, Marines, White House moulding and a speaking Melania. God was invoked so often, I thought I was in church! The whole show was colored by grievance, but the tone was « kinder » than Night 1. When you have a farmer and immigrant business woman thanking Supreme Leader Trump, the truth and Democrats have a bigger problem. The economy always rules elections, and Joe better counterpunch fast and well. At 69, I don’t want to lose the post office and social security! How about the brazen lies told by the former FL AG. That was the biggest lie moment for me. Thanks, HCR, for detailing the Hatch Act violations which color the entire show. A caution: we Dems still don’t know how to respond to Trump. We better learn fast. The election is coming up. No more Mr. Nice Guy. ❤️🤍💙
I will not watch the trump reality show otherwise known as the RNC, but wait for your clear eyed take on it. I cannot help but think the RNC is simply a display of the most baseless dog and pony show that panders to those that thrive on a buffet of disregard for facts and blantant abuse of power and laws. I would like to believe that this Administration has gone as low as it possible can but each day it seems to adjust that bar to a new lower level.
I have not watched any of the convention as I decided long ago watching and hearing the president was not helping my mental health. I follow the news in other venues. I try not to be fearful as that only saps my energy. However, I am retired and although have a small retirement pension and some investments, part of my retirement plan is Social Security. Dissolving this program would definitely put a strain on me although I can still work if I can find a job. I do know of people who depend entirely on the small amount they receive from Social Security. And many of these cannot see past the abortion issue and will vote against their own best interests. As aside, I do not for one minute believe the president is anti-abortion (I refuse to use pro-life to describe the anti-abortion movement) any more than I believe he adheres to the teachings of the Christian faith. I have to sign off as I need to send an email to my state's Democratic party about the campaign against McConnell. If ever we need to go a little lower, it is now.
Why-o-why was there not an effort to stop some of this stuff? What are the enforcement provisions of the Hatch Act? I am presuming that Nancy P et al wanted to hold their fire but this is a sickening desecration. The Dems just come off seeming powerless and naive - and it doesn't feel so hot to support them.
What is law? So many laws are being violated, like the Hatch Act, and yet nothing happens. We sit and watch the violations one after another. Unable to enforce anything.
I am alarmed, to say the least. The people who support Trump and his administration either stand to gain handsomely from his continued rule or they are stone cold stupid.
Trump's Alternative Facts are killing us.
Trumplestilskin’s charade has gone on for far too long! When will someone just put a stop to his shenanigans? Enough already! How can he continue to break ethical laws without any consequences?
When will the GOP realize that pulling the payroll tax will be a disaster for our elderly and people with disabilities? All these rich members of Congress will never suffer the consequences of diminishing or eradicating these social services. They have it made with their guaranteed retirement funds.
I could not bring myself to watch a single minute of the RNC — and thank goodness for that as the nepotism being brought into play is beyond acceptable. All I can say after these theatrics is: please vote! Our lives, our futures, and those of our children and grandchildren depend on it!
“I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?
It’s, like, incredible.”
Donald Trump, Iowa - January 23, 2016
“By the many times he has broken laws with impunity while in office, he likely would not be arrested either.
It’s, like, deplorable.”
Rob Boyte, Miami Beach - August 25, 2020